Romeo Squared
by Colormyworld
Summary: AU. MxI Transferring schools? Easy. Befriending a nice blonde guy? Medium. Pretending to be a guy while doing the above and becoming an actor? Eh...
1. Prologue: Exchange

Girls were brushing by me and giggling just like they used to at my old school. Guys were glaring at me for hogging the attention. Again.

Is every high school the same?

No matter how I'm dressed, they treat me the same. They have different faces, but the same words. I wish they'd see past the voice and height.

I'm no damsel in distress but I could really use Prince Charming.

/\\prologue: exchange

"Narita-san?" Someone called, and the pretty blonde turned around to face her sensei.

"Yes, sensei?" She replied, and the new guy blushed slightly at the Glitter of Shojoness(TM) that surrounded the new classmate.

"This is Miura-san. Would you please show him around? He needs to see the locker room. You need to change out of your costume anyway. He just arrived today." Sensei added, looking disinterested.

"Sure...come this way, Miura-san." Narita said with a warm smile and guided the tall brunette towards the locker room.

She had long blonde hair and was wearing a flowing pink dress for their next play. With long eyelashes, perfect skin and a kind smile, she was the image of a perfect girl.

And, as Miura entered the locker room and watched said girl take off her wig and dress, she was a boy. Narita Makoto...was male. And beautiful. The tall exchange student blushed furiously and looked away.

"Miura-san, is something wrong?" Makoto asked, frowning at his new classmate's embarrassment as he put a new shirt on.

"N-nothing." Miura replied. "Nothing at all." Everything was perfectly fine. It wasn't like she was dressed as a guy with short hair and pretending to be a boy--oh wait, she was. Damn.

This was going to be a long two years.

_Just a snippet...first WJ fic so we'll see how it pans out. :P Future chapters will be longer--written ultrafast!_


	2. I: Romeo is Juliet?

Warnings: OOCness, AU, written quickly, minor cursing, lack of spellcheck

Romeo Squared

Chapter 1:

Romeo is Juliet?

"Miura-san, is something wrong?"

Ito changed from red to green to a strange purple, before shaking her head rapidly. "No, no of course not. It's just overwhelming...being new, I mean."

Makoto glanced at her and smiled sweetly. "Well," he said, "you've already been here a week and everyone seems to like you. You're doing very well." He assured.

"Miura-kun!" A girl viciously glomped Ito. "You want to date me _now_?"

"I...have a girlfriend." Ito lied, giving her a charming smile. "Sorry."

"That's okay..." The girl said, fainting from the bishonen overload.

Makoto chuckled at the scene. "Miura-san, the girls are all over you yet you reject them so kindly. Your girlfriend must be very happy to have you. You're a good actor, too."

Ito sighed. That's what had gotten her into this...

But never mind that, she needed to stop blushing whenever she saw Makoto's adorable mug or he'd figure out the truth.

Damn his handsome face and kind words!

"Narita-san, actually--" Ito began but Makoto interrupted her.

"Makoto is fine." He corrected with a warm smile.

She held back a blush. "Makoto-san, I need to go change..." She said awkwardly, heading towards the men's restroom.

"Ah, right, your scars..." Makoto said, remembering the story Ito had told him. "Well, I see you in the theatre in a few minutes." He headed off and she let out a breath she had been holding for a while.

Damn it, she couldn't fall for a guy while pretending to be a guy. That just wouldn't work. But he was so _nice_...

She headed to the bathroom reluctantly to change.

X

"I can't believe we've only known each other a month." Makoto commented as he ate lunch with Ito on the roof.

"Yeah, and rumors are going around that we're a couple..." Ito muttered, looking down to see the mob of yaoi fangirls eagerly discussing who was the uke.

Makoto sighed. "Sorry, Ito-san, it's because I look so much like a girl."

She glanced at him and shook her head. "I think you're fine, Makoto-san." After all, she was the one impersonating a boy. Not that Makoto had noticed yet. She was actually quite surprised that he hadn't, they had been hanging out almost every day.

"Ito-san...?" He asked, noticing how deep in thought she was. "Are you alright?"

She nodded rapidly. "Huh? Yeah! Just thinking about that test tomorrow."

Makoto blinked. "In our history class? Why don't you come over to study this afternoon?" He asked. "You haven't been to my house yet, have you?"

Ito's eyes widened. Go to Makoto's house? It sounded like fun but she was a girl and he was a boy...it would mean being alone with Makoto for hours. It would be a little dangerous, considering her secret...still, he looked so excited. How could she say no?

"Sure." She said after the longest pause possible. "We'll head over there after rehearsal."

X

As the drama club's activites for the day ended, Ito stepped outside with Makoto. He led the way as she followed him with her arms behind her head. "So you have sisters, right?"

"Yes, three, but one left a while ago." Makoto replied, giving her a tiny smile. "My father runs a dojo but he has fortunately agreed to let my second eldest sister be the heir. She loves teaching martial arts. I really want to be an actor."

"My father used to run a dojo, too..." Ito said, trying not to reveal too much. "But after my mother died, he swore never to fight again. So he opened an inn."

"An inn?" Makoto repeated as thunder struck a few miles away and the sky brightened for a moment.

"Yeah, a traditional Japanese inn. My family wants me to take it over."

"Why?" Makoto asked, confused.

Ito sighed. "It's a long story, to be honest."

The blonde teenager decided to change the topic. "So what's your girlfriend like?"

Ito blinked, confused before remembering her cover story for rejecting girls. "Um, to be totally honest, Makoto-san, I don't have one. I'm just not interested in dating girls."

"Oh." Makoto said as it began to rain. Then he blushed. "_Oh_."

She stared at him, trying to figure out why he was blushing before realizing. "No, I'm not--you don't understand! I'm not really--" She covered her mouth as the rain drenched the pair.

Makoto stopped walking and turned to her. "Ito-san, we're here." He gestured to the house they were in front of.

Her eyes widened. "Your house is amazing!" She gushed as he led her to the door.

"Looks like my family is out." Makoto said ten minutes later, fingering a note on the kitchen counter. "Ito-san, you should take a bath first. I wouldn't want you to catch a cold. I'll get you a change of clothing."

She nodded reluctantly and allowed him to lead her to the bath.

When she finished her shower, she peaked into the attached bedroom in search of the clothes he'd left for her. She quickly grabbed the shirt and pants, running back to the bathroom and closing the door behind her. She forgot to lock it in her haste.

She put on the pants and sighed as they were a bit short on her. She tightened her wet bandages around her chest and was about to put on the shirt Makoto had left when the bathroom door opened.

"Ito-san, I forgot to leave you socks--" Makoto began, eyes widening as he opened the door and saw her. He began to shut the door but she pulled him into the bathroom.

She let out a breath. "Please don't tell anyone." She begged.

He just sighed as she began to explain her situation.

**X X X**

Okay, guys, this was written very quickly and is modeled on the manga's revelation scenes. From this point on, the story will differ. Ito's family runs an inn in this instead of a dojo in my attempt to explain things. ;D

I'm not thrilled with this chapter, but I AM indeed alive and working on this...if the response to this is great, I'll try to work on the next chapter and finish it by Monday/Tuesday. If not then I will wait until I finish my other fics before working on this. I hope you enjoyed it so far! I've already planned out the upcoming chapters and I'm suddenly inspired to make a WJ oneshot I think you'll enjoy. Look out for it! I hope to hear from you guys.


	3. II: Juliet's Secret

Warnings: OOCness, AUness, lack of spellcheck, written quickly, etc.  
Notes: I really wanted to update this--this isn't much but it's at least something!

Romeo Squared

Chapter 2:

Juliet's Secret

"So your father wants you to run your family's inn, as the heiress, but you want to be an actor..."

Ito nodded, twisting the towel he'd given her. "So he said that if I'm good enough at acting to disguise myself as a boy for the rest of high school, he'll let me do it and find another heir."

Makoto slumped over. "You're a girl, Ito-san." He muttered, burying his face in his hands.

"Yeah...but listen, you can't tell a soul." She said as he looked up at her. "I really want to be an actress, so you have to help me keep my secret, okay?"

He nodded, staring at the young woman before him. She was actually quite cute if he looked past the masculine haircut and body language.

"So this is why you rejected the girls." He said cheerfully, smiling at her.

She paled. "Do you know how traumatizing that was? All those fangirls...swarming me...asking me on dates...I'm as much a woman as they are!"

He laughed at her annoyed expression. "Maybe we should pretend to be a yaoi couple. Then they'd leave us alone--except for staring at us and screaming about 'forbidden love'."

Ito grinned madly at the thought. "That would be too funny, but I can't. I don't want to risk revealing myself."

Makoto smiled. "I was joking."

She blushed slightly. "Oh."

"So there are no scars, hm?" He asked innocently.

She gave him a look. "Of course not. I didn't want to get caught changing...you're taking this pretty well, you know."

He shrugged. "I'm surprised, but I think on some level I've known since the beginning. After all, I usually don't make male friends..." He said with a depressing glance away from her.

Ito crossed her arms and began to pace around his room. "I've gotta say that I feel much better now that you know the truth."

He smiled. "Glad to be of service."

She blinked suddenly. "Hey, what's our next play at school?" Talking about her secrets was a little too awkward. She seriously needed some casual conversation and a topic change.

"Romeo and Juliet." Makoto sighed heavily. "I'm Juliet...our teacher has an obsession with dressing me in women's clothing. I'm not thrilled about having major kiss scenes with another guy but I _am_ an actor so I'll have to get over it."

Ito blinked, getting an idea. "If I become Romeo, you won't have to kiss a guy, right?"

He glanced up at her. "There are a dozen other club members who want the role. I don't know if you can even audition at this point."

She grinned. "I'm going to try! You're helping me by keeping my secret, this is the least I can do."

He watched her as she began to come up with an audition plan and couldn't resist a smile.

**X X X X**

I know this is short and a bit rushed, but I really wanted to update this and let you know that I'm alive. I don't have much of this written or big plans for it yet, but please stick with me...I won't disappoint you!

Thanks so much for the support...more will come!


	4. III: Trouble for Juliet

Warnings: OOCness, AUness, lack of spellcheck (thanks to Wordpad), etc.  
Notes: This isn't my best work, but I have to give you guys an update at least once a month ;D

Romeo Squared

Chapter 3:

Trouble for Juliet

"I cannot believe this."

The underclassmen were muttering complaints from the audience of the theatre as they watched the rehearsal on stage.

"He is so not right for the role."

"_I_ wanted to kiss Mako-kun."

"Don't let him hear you call him that!"

"I wanted to kiss Miura-kun." Another girl sighed angrily.

"Me too..." A small male sempai said.

"Maybe we should make a fanclub...?"

"Quiet!" Miss Itou said, waving an arm at the audience. "Miura-san and Narita-san are trying to act and you're interrupting. Want to run fifty laps?"

"No!" They all shouted simultaneously before proceeding to be quiet.

"Look, Miura-san happens to be perfect for Romeo. These two have chemistry." Miss Itou said, crossing her arms. "You can make fanclubs, but all profits from photos must go to the drama club, okay?"

"What?" Ito hissed quietly, turning to Makoto. "They sell our pictures?!"

"Don't ask me..." Makoto muttered, avoiding her gaze. "We don't get a ton of funding so Miss Itou does what she can..."

"This is totally an invasion of my privacy." Ito whispered, glaring at the other drama club members in the audience.

"Stop talking and start the rehearsing!" The instructor ordered, noticing the hushed conversation on stage.

"Yes, Miss Itou!" The stage manager exclaimed, saluting to her and pointing to Ito.

Ito sighed heavily and continued with her line.

X

"I don't know. Something's weird about Miura-kun." Tsugumi said, crossing her arms. "The other day, I saw some cute girls asking him out and he refused them. I thought he was waiting for me to ask him, so I did. He rejected me, too!" She hissed, eyes glowing with rage.

"So...?" One of the other club members said, glancing up at the woman he was loyal to.

Tsugumi frowned. "He never changes with the other boys or takes his shirt off. Maybe he's a girl!"

Her lackeys exchanged glances. Oh boy, another one of Tsugumi's crazy conspiracy theories. "How do we tell?"

"We 'accidentally' expose Miura by knocking him into a pool. That should settle things." Tsugumi grinned.

"Isn't that kinda mean?" One lackey asked.

Tsugumi groaned. "I don't care! You two suggest something better."

"Have a beach party. Then use peer pressure. You don't seem as bad then, because all of the drama club will be encouraging him to take off his shirt and go swimming." The shorter lackey suggested and the other nodded.

Tsugumi's eyes widened. "A beach party! I can't believe an idiot like you thought of something so wonderful! Let's do it!"

X

Three days later, Makoto and Ito exchanged glances.

"This is bad..." Ito said, glancing at the invitation. "Can I just say no?"

"Noooo, Miura-sempai has to come!" A group of girls shrieked, dying to see Ito in a swimsuit. Of course, little did they know that the objects of their affections was female.

"Why wouldn't you? Bad beach body?" A boy snickered.

"Sort of..." Ito said nervously.

"Or something to hide?" Tsugumi asked with a smirk.

Ito narrowed her eyes. So this girl knew? Fine, she could accept a challenge.

Much to Makoto's horror, Ito replied:

"I'll be there."

**X X X X**

Thanks for reading--this fic isn't one of my masterpieces, but I want to make a solid effort on it. I know updates are infrequent but please stick with me! I will try to update again soon. (: Thank you for the support!

Color


	5. IV: Romeo, Juliet, and the Waves

Warnings: OOCness, AUness, lack of spellcheck (thanks to Wordpad), etc.  
Notes: This isn't my best work, but I have to give you guys an update at least once a month and October is fading! D:

Romeo Squared

Chapter 4:

Romeo, Juliet, and the Waves

It was a dark, rainy day and hardly a pleasant one for a trip to the beach. The students moaned in disappointment.

"Curses! My plan is foiled." Tsugumi huffed.

Just kidding.

It was a lovely day and the sun was shining, birds were chirping, and everyone was generally quite cheerful as the drama club marched down to the beach.

Ito was wearing a tacky tropical shirt with smiling palm trees on a blue background and matching swim trunks. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice her true gender.

Makoto, on the other hand, was being fangirled by some of the female students. Ito cleared her throat and pulled Makoto away, towards an empty area of the beach.

"Yaoi!" The girls shrieked as Ito stuffed an umbrella into the sand and set out a towel.

"Makoto-san, you may want to avoid them..." the masculine girl said, glancing at the other girls.

Makoto sweat-dropped as the girls began to discuss who was uke.

"I suppose you aren't swimming." Makoto commented, placing his bag beside Ito's towel as she sat down on it.

"Can't. I wish I could...really." She said with a heavy sigh. "I love swimming but I can't risk it."

"Hm...I have an idea, Ito-san." Makoto said, pulling out his phone and heading away from the fangirls.

Ito watched him go.

Tsugumi was gritting her teeth from a distance. "The girls are still fawning over him--her--him--argh, whatever!" She grabbed her hair in distress. "We have to find out the truth! We just have to!"

One lackey sighed. "Tsugumi-sama, I thought you were going to use peer pressure..."

"Right." Tsugumi remembered. "We should do it now!"

Makoto returned to the scene and gestured to Ito, who followed him away from the beach and towards a block of beachside shops.

"No!" Tsugumi growled. "We have to follow them..."

The lackeys sighed. Just great.

"It has to be Miura-san." The fangirls decided.

**X X X X**

A quick (as in...written in 10 minutes) update because I really wanted to add a chapter this month. I'm going to work on completing this fic soon...please stick with me! (: I'll try to update more often and have longer chapters.

Color


	6. V: Juliet's Reappearance

Warnings: OOCness, AUness, lack of spellcheck (thanks to Wordpad), etc.  
Notes: This isn't my best work, but I have to give you guys an update at least once a month and November...it comes and goes quickly...

Romeo Squared

Chapter 5:

Juliet's Reappearance

Tsugumi sighed. "I can't believe we lost them."

One of her lackeys rubbed his head. "Sorry, Tsugumi-sama..."

"Yeah, whatever. Do better next time! Run faster!" She ordered.

The lackeys exchanged glances and shrugged.

They headed back to the beach slowly.

"How long have they been gone, anyway?" The bratty girl asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"An hour or so. We started off slowly." One lackey pointed out.

"That's because we had to stop for hotdogs..." The other said with an innocent smile.

Tsugumi was still steaming over that. "Damn those hotdogs. Now I'll never find out the truth." She hissed.

At that very moment, Makoto approached them from behind. "Ah...Tsugumi-sempai. What are you doing here on the boardwalk?"

"Where's Miura?" The upperclassman replied, leaning in close to the blonde.

Makoto backed away from her. "He got a call that his brother's sick so he went home to take care of him."

"Huh?" Tsugumi hadn't expected that. "Really?"

"Yeah...why? Did you want to ask him something?" Makoto looked confused.

"Hm...not right now..." The honesty in Makoto's eyes was making her feel guilty about even asking. Damn it. "Let's just go back to the beach."

"Can we stop for smoothies first?" One lackey asked with a hopeful grin and was immediately punched.

To relieve her guilt over that smack, she even let him get the smoothie. She really needed new lackeys.

Smoothies in hand, the group approached the beach only to see a group of boys fawning over someone.

"What's going on?" Tsugumi asked, approaching the crowd.

"Hottest girl ever. Although wouldn't mind takin' you out either..." One boy said to her with a wink.

"I have a boyfriend." Came a voice from the center of the crowd.

"I'm better!" One man suggested to the beautiful girl.

A little boy was clinging to her leg. "Younger men are awesome!"

She broke through the crowd.

Tsugumi's eyes widened. Damn it, she really was gorgeous!

She was a tall girl, even taller than Makoto, and had long red hair. She was wearing a yellow bikini and wore no shoes.

"W-who're you?" Tsugumi asked. This girl was familiar...

The girl paused, glancing at Makoto.

"Who's this? Girlfriend? Yuri's hot." Another boy said, leaning on her shoulder.

"Uh, don't know her. I'm Izumi Mori." She said warmly to Tsugumi, holding out a hand.

The boys continued leering.

"Um...but that's my boyfriend, Mako-san!" Ito added, diving at Makoto to cling to his arm. He immediately blushed.

"WHAT?!" The entire crowd (and Tsugumi) roared.

Makoto glanced at her uncertainly, then back at the crowd of boys, and nodded. "Yes...I called my girlfriend and asked her to come."

Ito nodded in relief as the crowd of boys mumbled things about short boys having all the luck and dispersed.

Tsugumi stared at the girl, wondering if her guess was right...if this new girl really was who she thought.

**X X X X**

As I think you've discovered by now, all chapters for this story are written in less than 20 minutes! It hasn't been edited thoroughly but I didn't think you guys would mind much. Thanks so much for the support! I promise I have excitement in store for you!

Color


	7. VI: Tsugumi Strikes

Warnings: OOCness, AUness, lack of spellcheck (thanks to Wordpad), etc.  
Notes: Written in 20 minutes, per usual! I'm sorry that updates for this are so slow, guys. I'm going to try harder to get them out quickly in 2009...

Romeo Squared

Chapter 6:

Tsugumi Strikes

"A girlfriend?" Tsugumi pulled on her hair. "It's gotta be Miura in disguise! I knew he was a girl."

One lackey, named Daiki, sighed. "Tsugumi-sempai, I think you're just jealous."

"Excuse _you_!" Tsugumi hissed, smacking him on the head. "I'm just looking out for our precious drama club. How rude to imply otherwise."

"She is pretty hot." Her other follower, Yuu, admitted.

His dearest lady growled. "That...that...Izumi Mori must be Miura. She has to be. They aren't really dating, it's just pretend. We've gotta figure out a way to find the truth." She whispered to herself. "But how?"

X

"Tsugumi-sempai seems to have figured out the truth..." Ito whispered to Makoto, twisting a strand of the wig's hair awkwardly. "See how she's staring at us?"

"Don't worry about her." Makoto said, leading Ito towards a drink stand. "There are quite a few people staring."

Ito glanced around. "That's weird. Why?"

Makoto blinked at her before smiling slightly. "They can't resist a pretty girl."

Ito blushed at him. Only Makoto could say such cheesy things and actually mean them. In fact, she was starting to develop a little crush. When he had called her his girlfriend a few minutes ago, she had _liked_ it.

She shook her head, trying to remove those feelings. What was she doing? She was tall and masculine, enough to disguise herself as a boy. Makoto wasn't interested in her like that; he was just a gentleman.

She sighed heavily and accepted the beverage that Makoto had just purchased for her. "Thanks."

"Miura!" A voice called.

"Yeah?" Ito asked, turning around. She instantly froze in place, realizing what she had just done.

She was in disguise...she was not supposed to be Ito Miura right now.

Tsugumi, with half of their class behind her, smirked. "Can we talk, Miura?"

**X X X**

Wow, cliffhanger! I'll hopefully speak to you guys again in less than a month! Hope you enjoyed this one...I'm sorry that it's so short. D:


	8. VII: Juliet Escapes

Romeo Squared

Chapter 7: Juliet's Escape

"Wanna explain yourself?"

Tsugumi was giving her a sickeningly smug look.

She had been discovered, after all.

Ito swiveled her heels to view the huge group of her classmates behind Tsugumi.

Why had she answered to her own last name? How stupid could she be?

She was supposed to be a man here so she could graduate and prove her acting abilities. So that she would not have to take over the family business.

Had she really ruined her chances so early?

"What do you mean?" She tried asking. "You said my name, Mori."

"Nice try, Miura, but everyone heard exactly what I said."

"I misheard you," she replied. She gave the crowd a sweet expression that she would _never_ do as herself.

Some people in the mob began to mutter to each other. This girl did look like Miura, but she also seemed to be a gentle girl and Tsugumi was absolutely insane. Perhaps it was just a coincidence.

Apparently the feeling wasn't carried throughout the crowd, because someone shouted, "Yeah right! You look like him and respond to his name but it's a coincidence?"

Makoto stared out at the crowd for a long time before sighing. "All right, let's tell them the truth."

Ito began to panic. "What?" He was giving up on her? No!

"Izumi and Miura are siblings," Makoto finally explained. The entire crowd gasped. "Izumi changed her last name because she wanted to pursue a modeling career and Mori sounded better than Miura."

That...made sense. The students began to introduce themselves, apologizing for accusing "Izumi" of such (true) things. Ito kept her sickeningly sweet smile on as she pretended not to know her classmates' names.

Eventually only Tsugumi and her goons stood there. She gritted her teeth.

Damn it.


End file.
